Have been musing today that the real reason that most young actors today want to do on-camera work is not because they want to make more money or be celebrities (although that is surely true for a majority of them) but because the simple fact is theater is just harder. It’s harder to be extraordinary on stage, in real time, with one take. It’s hard, really hard to go through an excellent Meisner program. It’s meant to create extraordinary artists. It can do that. It also does a wonderful job of weeding out the folks that really don’t have the talent or work ethic or passion to become great. And that’s a good thing.

There’s a reason why my friend Ernie Losso used to say about his many years of work in LA as a producer and director, “The only thing an actor needs to be good on camera is a great Meisner class.”

And there’s a reason that LA casting directors, directors and writers STILL want New York trained actors. They know that these people will have chops.

Of course there’s a lot of old-fashioned academic stage training that doesn’t get people where they ultimately want to be. But that’s a discussion for another day.